802.1X Authentication Procedures; A Comparison Of Eap Relay And Eap Termination - HP 5120 SI Series Security Configuration Manual

The access device supports the following modes:
• Multicast trigger mode—The access device multicasts EAP-Request/Identify packets periodically
(every 30 seconds by default) to initiate 802.1X authentication.
Unicast trigger mode—Upon receiving a frame with the source MAC address not in the MAC
•
address table, the access device sends an EAP-Request/Identify packet out of the receiving port to
the unknown MAC address. It retransmits the packet if no response has been received within a
configured time interval.

802.1X authentication procedures

802.1X authentication has two approaches: EAP relay and EAP termination. You choose either mode
depending on the support of the RADIUS server for EAP packets and EAP authentication methods.
EAP relay is defined in IEEE 802.1X. In this mode, the network device uses EAPoR packets to send
authentication information to the RADIUS server, as shown in
Figure 22 EAP relay
In EAP termination mode, the network access device terminates the EAP packets received from the client,
encapsulates the client authentication information in standard RADIUS packets, and uses (Password
Authentication Protocol) PAP or (Password Authentication Protocol) CHAP to authenticate to the RADIUS
server, as shown in
Figure 23 EAP termination

A comparison of EAP relay and EAP termination

Packet exchange method
EAP relay
Figure 28.
Benefits
•
Supports various EAP
authentication methods.
•
The configuration and processing is
simple on the network access
device
Figure
61
27.
Limitations
The RADIUS server must support the
EAP-Message and
Message-Authenticator attributes,
and the EAP authentication method
used by the client.